Insulated furniture construction



Jan. 23, 1934. E. OHNSTRAND INSULATED FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION OriginalFiled April 19, 1927 Patented Jan. 23, 1934 UNITED STATES INSULATEDFURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Enoch Ohnstrand, Kenmore, N. Y., assignor toRemington Rand Ina, Buffalo, N. Y.

Original application April 19, 1927, Serial No.

184,925, new Patent No. 1,826,670, dated Octoher 6, 1931. Divided andthis application June '2' Claims.

This invention relates to furniture construction and has reference moreparticularly to the construction of the knockdown type of furniture inwhich the walls are lined with insulating material.

This application is a division of my co-pending application, Serial No.184,925, filed April 19, 1927 now Patent No. 1,826,670 of October 6,1931.

In the construction of metal furniture and especially of metal desks,considerable annoyance has been experienced by users due to the factthat the vibration of the metal in use causes sounds which areunpleasant to the ear. This is especially noticeable when an empty metaldrawer is moved in and out in its supporting guideways or slides.Another objection to metal furniture, and especially metal desks whichare adapted to contain valuable papers, is that in case of fire themetal conducts the heat so rapidly to the inside of the desk that thepapers therein are charred and destroyed before the fire can beextinguished.

An object of this invention therefore is to provide a practicalknock-down construction for metal furniture and especially desks.

Another object of the invention is to provide a furniture constructionof the class described in which the wall members are lined withinsulating material for sound proofing purposes and for protectionagainst fire.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple and efficientattaching means for the walls and frame members of metal desks.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a composite topconstruction for metal desks employing fiber board as an insulatingmaterial and linoleum as a wear proof upper surface; also to improvefurniture construction in other respects hereinafter specified andclaimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing forming a part ofthis specification, in which,

Fig. l is a perspective view of my improved desk.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional elevation through the desk on the line2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse fragmentary section through the desk on line 3-3of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional elevation through the desk on line 4-4of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary elevation of the hook attaching means.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation of the hook attaching means shownin Fig. 5, and

Figs. 7 and 8 are fragmentary elevations of hook attaching means similarto Figs. 5 and 6 but of 55 a modified form of construction.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 3 but applied to the modifiedform shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

Referring to the drawing by numerals, the desk is provided with aplurality of metal legs 10 be- Serial No. 547,986

tween which are suitably attached a plurality of metal wall members 11.A desk top 12 is supported on the upper ends of legs 10, and a pluralityof drawers 13 are mounted on suitable slideways 14-. between legs 10.

My improved desk is preferably of a knockdown construction so that itmay be shipped in a comparatively small container and then easilyassembled by the user. In order to make a simple form of attachmentbetween the legs 10 and wall members 11, I provide a plurality of hooks15 formed on the edge of each wall member 11, said hooks being adaptedto be inserted into slots 16 formed in legs 10. The hooks 15 areseparated from the wall member 11 by a space 17 called the throat andconsiderable difiiculty has been experienced in the past in forming thisthroat by a punch, since the thickness of the leg metal is so small thatthe corresponding punch for the throat 17 is very thin and is subject tofrequent breakage. In order to avoid this breakage I provide an offsetpad 18 on leg 10 adjacent each slot 16 which serves to increase thewidth of the throat l7 and also the corresponding thickness of the punchfor forming said throat. Due to the greater thickness of the throatpunch, the breakage of the latter is practically eliminated. The throat17 is preferably made slightly less in width than the distance betweenthe outer face of pad 18 and the inner face of leg 10 so that inassembly the pad 18 is slightly depressed and yieldingly and firmlymaintains the hook 15 in detachable connection with said pad 18.

I have found it desirable in constructing my improved desk to use acomparatively thin metal for the wall sections 11, which considerablylowers the cost of construction of the desk. However the hook 15, withvery thin metal, is somewhat weak and is apt to be bent in shipment andbroken in assembly. Also the edge of slots 16 may often be observed fromthe outside of the desk due to the fact that the slot 16 is somewhatwider than the thickness of the metal forming hooks 15. In order toovercome these two disadvantages I provide a modified construction asshown in Figs. 7 and 8 in which an attaching strip 19 is secured alongeach edge of wall member 11a by spot welding or other means. This member19 can be of metal having a greater thickness than wall member 11 sothat the hooks 1511 are very strong and are not apt to be bent inshipment or ruptured in assembly. Also in the improved constructionshown in Figures 7 and 8, the edge of the metal wall member 1111overlaps the slot 16 so that said slots are concealed by said wallmembers and can not be ob served from the outside of the desk, thus materially improving the outside appearance of the desk.

In order to make the metal desks sound proof i the various sections mayin use and insulated against fire, I preferably attach to the innersurface of walls 11 and 11a, fiber boards 20. This fiber board ispreferably formed from sugar cane bagasse manufactured in accordancewith the process described in Patent No. 1,457,285. This fiber board hasa high insulating value, and in case of fire, it merely chars after along exposure to extreme heat, and at the same time the temperatureinside of the desk remains lower than that necessary to char the paperscontained therein. In the claims of this application, the words fiberboard, however, are contemplated to include other types of fibrousmaterials either vegetable or mineral such as asbestos, mineral wool,plaster board or the like.

The surface of the fiber board 20 is comparatively rough and is usuallyof a pale yellow color. The fibers are somewhat loose on the surface ofthe board, and in order to lay the fibers and to render same furtherfire proof, I preferably coat the inner surface of the fiber board 20with a solution of water glass, which hardens and forms an efficientcoating which prevents all loose fibers from the surface of the boardfrom falling into drawers 13 and also renders said board more resistantto fire. The metal work on the desk is usually coated with baked enameland in order to also color the inner surface of the boards 20, Ipreferably mix a pigment of a color similar to that of the baked enamel,so that the inner surfaceof the board matches in color the other metalwork of the desk. The fiber boards 20 may be attached to the inner faceof wall members 11 in any suitable way, but they may be convenientlyattached by flanges 21 and 22 formed on the legs 10, said flanges beingadapted to embrace the edges of said fiber boards. The bottom 23 of thedesk is also adapted to support fiber boards 20, said bottom beingsupported by inturned flanges 24 formed along the bottom edge of wallmembers 11. a

In the modified form of construction shown in Figs. '7 to 9, the edge ofthe fiber board 20 may abut against laterally extending flanges 19aformed on strips 19 so that leg flanges 22a cooperate with flanges 19ato embrace the edge of the fiber board and hold same securely in place.

The top 12 of my improved desk is preferably a composite structurecomprising a sheet of metal 25, such as steel, which is covered on itsupper surface by a layer of battleship linoleum 26, the latter providinga wear proof'and scratch proof upper surface for the desk top 12. To thelower face of sheet metal 25 is attached a layer of the fiber board 20,and said fiber board is coated with water glass 27 as above described.The linoleum 26 and fiber board 20 are preferably attached to sheetmetal 25 by gluing the layers together under relatively heavy pressure,

The outer edge of the linoleum layer 26 is preferably concealed by theedge flange 28 which has a section 29 extending under the metal sheet25. An edge channel or strip 30 has a leg 31 extending under section 29and a lower leg 32 extending inwardly to engage theouter surface of legs10 and properly position the desk top 12 relative to said legs. Theouter surface of the strip 30 may be enclosed by a metal cover 33 ifdesired, and be attached to metal sheet 25 by a bolt 34.

It should be understood that the various features are shown as appliedto desk construction,

but may be also applied to the construction of other furniture, such ashome and office furniture, if desired. The constructions which areespecially adapted for wider furniture construction than desks are thehook attached means and the insulating feature.

I would state in conclusion that while the illustrated examplesconstitute a preferred embodiment of my invention, I do not limit myselfprecisely to the details herein described, since manifestly the same canbe considerably varied without departing from the spirit of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

l. A composite top for metal furniture, comprising a sheet of metalcombined on its upper surfact with a layer of linoleum and on its lowersurface with a layer of fiber board, said top having sound deadening andheat resisting properties.

2. In a furniture construction, a composite wall comprising a sheet ofmetal having a layer of linoleum glued to the outer face thereof and alayer of fiber board glued to the inner face of said sheet.

3. Metal furniture, comprising a top plate, a cover sheet applied tosaid top plate, an angular bead strip having a horizontal flange securedto the under side of said top plate and the other flange embracing theedge of said top plate and said cover sheet, and a side flange membersecured to said bead strip and depending therefrom.

4. A top for furniture, comprising a sheet metal top plate, a coversheet of composition material applied to one face of said plate, aflange member on said plate embracing the edge portions of said coversheet, separate marginal strip portions engaging said flange member forembracing a piece of furniture to retain said top in position thereon,and securing means engaging said marginal strip portions, flange memberand top plate for retaining said portions and member in assembledrelation on the margin of the top plate.

5. A top for furniture, comprising a sheet metal top plate, a coversheet of composition material on one face thereof, and a layer of fireresistant material on the other face thereof.

6. A top forfurniture, comprising a sheet metal top plate, a layer ofcomposition material applied to one face of said plate to form a topsurface thereon, a pair of marginal strip members on said top plate, oneof said members cooperating there with to form an edge binding for saidlayer, the other member cooperating to position said top on a piece offurniture, and provide a thickness simulating portion to make the topappear to have a substantial thickness, and means directly engaging andsecuring said pair of members together and to the marginal portion ofsaid top plate.

'7. A- topfor furniture, comprising a sheet metal top plate, alayer ofcomposition material applied to one face of said top plate, an angularedge strip having one edge portion extending around the edge of saidplate and said layer and the other edge portion engaging the marginalportion of the opposite face of said top plate, a positioning stripsuperposed on the last-named edge portion of said angular edge strip,and means directly engaging and securing said positioning strip and saidangular edge strip in said superposed position to said marginal portionof said top plate, said means engaging said superposed portions.

ENOCH OI-INSTRAND.

